WBB @ Southern Utah

[Bobcat4Ever]

I’m going to go ahead and get this thread started, because we are in Cedar City and will get to see this team play in person! We drove up from from our home in Nevada yesterday. Very excited for this opportunity. It will be a challenge here, for sure. SUU has been pretty tough on their home court. At 5,800 feet they hold a pretty significant elevation advantage on most teams, but it’s pretty minor on MSU. If we can play our game, we’ll be fine. Cardenas is a talent, but Darian slowed her down pretty much in Bozeman. Madisyn is still in her walking boot, so we won’t be seeing her on the court. I’ll try to do a few updates from the game. Go, ‘Cats!

[rivercat]

I’m going to go ahead and get this thread started, because we are in Cedar City and will get to see this team play in person! We drove up from from our home in Nevada yesterday. Very excited for this opportunity. It will be a challenge here, for sure. SUU has been pretty tough on their home court. At 5,800 feet they hold a pretty significant elevation advantage on most teams, but it’s pretty minor on MSU. If we can play our game, we’ll be fine. Cardenas is a talent, but Darian slowed her down pretty much in Bozeman. Madisyn is still in her walking boot, so we won’t be seeing her on the court. I’ll try to do a few updates from the game. Go, ‘Cats!

Glad you can make the game. Cheer for us all!

I was wondering why they are so good at home and hadn't thought about the elevation. As you said, that shouldn't put our ladies at too much of a disadvantage. Have fun.

[MSU01]

I'll be interested to see if Coach Binford goes all out with her starters to get the win, or if she'll rest some of the key players a bit more than normal to keep them rested and avoid injuries as much as possible.

[aucat]

I am also intrigued by how tough SUU is on their home court. I think they are 9-2 at home, so I am sure this will be a tough test.

I don't look for Coach Binford to take her foot off the gas at all. You want to go into the tournament full bore. Plus, let's say we do win the tournament. Any loss at this stage of the season would be a killer regarding seeding. It would be a tremendous achievement if MSU could win a game in the first round of the NCAAs. If we win out I think we MIGHT have a chance to move from a 14 seed to a 13 seed, which would be huge. Go Cats GO, we will be watching tonight. Please DO cheer for us Bobcat4ever!

[Bobcat4Ever]

Thanks, guys. We’d been hoping we could come up to Cedar City, but had to wait until the last few days to be sure. I’ll certainly send up a cheer on behalf of Bobcat Nation! Best news so far: team travel. Coach Bin is pleased that for the first time ever they flew in to Cedar City via SLC. Delta Connection has service here. Sure beats driving back from Las Vegas or over from Flagstaff. And they can fly out again to make the trip to Greeley easier. Worst news so far: seating. There is no ADA accessible seating at court level in America First arena, as you enter at the top and walk down. So I’ll be stationed at the top of the section behind the visitor’s bench, as I cannot negotiate all the stairs. It’s not way high up, but I had hoped to be near the bench to shuttle in any accumulated knowledge from Bobcat Nation to the coaches as needed. They’ll have to handle it in their own. Go, ‘Cats!

[mslacatfan]

I'll be interested to see if Coach Binford goes all out with her starters to get the win, or if she'll rest some of the key players a bit more than normal to keep them rested and avoid injuries as much as possible.

Ummm, not much of a debate... guarantee they are going all out to win every remaining game. Cats have a chance to actually get a solid seed in the big dance... I’m sure they are doing everything possible to win out.

[RickRund]

Put the pedal to the metal...

GOOOOOO BOBCATS

[mslacatfan]

Go cats!!!

[BobcatDel]

Did I see Madison Jackson on the floor...thought I saw her get a few minutes...or was I imagining things?

[rivercat]

You saw correctly

[BobcatDel]

You saw correctly

Good. I was hoping she would get a few minutes each game this weekend just to test her foot for tourney time. Hope it was OK....Bobcat4Ever....could you see how she was moving?

[MSU01]

The top 6 seeds and also 9 - 11 seeds for the conference tournament have been set after tonight's games:

1. MSU
2. Idaho
3. ISU
4. UM
5. NAU
6. SUU
7. UNC or PSU
8. UNC or PSU
9. Sac
10. EWU
11. Weber

[rivercat]

The top 6 seeds and also 9 - 11 seeds for the conference tournament have been set after tonight's games:

1. MSU
2. Idaho
3. ISU
4. UM
5. NAU
6. SUU
7. UNC or PSU
8. UNC or PSU
9. Sac
10. EWU
11. Weber

Thanks 01. So if MSU and um both win their first game, is it CAT griz #3?

[BelgradeBobcat]

Had to "watch" the game via stat tracker whilst at a meeting. Man that's tough to do! Especially trying to pay attention to what I'm supposed to be doing. Was a little nervous in that first half when we were down by 5 or so and then close to even halftime. Then it looked like Freije and Squires took turns taking over-all with the other usual cast of characters. 70%+ after halftime from the field. SUU must have actually played pretty well?

[Bobcat4Ever]

You saw correctly

Good. I was hoping she would get a few minutes each game this weekend just to test her foot for tourney time. Hope it was OK....Bobcat4Ever....could you see how she was moving?

Hey! Madi had the walking boot on yesterday and today at the hotel. I was surprised to see her get minutes, but pleased too. She had her knee wrapped big time but nothing obvious on her ankle. She did not look tentative but that might just be her! On the steal in the first half she really elevated and picked the pass out of the air. Looked good to me from row 19. Getting ramped up to play is my guess.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I'll be interested to see if Coach Binford goes all out with her starters to get the win, or if she'll rest some of the key players a bit more than normal to keep them rested and avoid injuries as much as possible.

They totally wanted and needed the win in their resumé. Coach Bin said that stints would maybe be shortened as several players had the “sniffles” including Madeline.

[MSU01]

I'll be interested to see if Coach Binford goes all out with her starters to get the win, or if she'll rest some of the key players a bit more than normal to keep them rested and avoid injuries as much as possible.

They totally wanted and needed the win in their resumé. Coach Bin said that stints would maybe be shortened as several players had the “sniffles” including Madeline.

I never thought they'd change things up too much. Just maybe give the starters a few minutes more rest than they usually would looking ahead to next week and hopefully playing 3 games in 4 days. This isn't too tough to do since there isn't usually much of a drop-off at all when the bench players come in!

[MSU01]

The top 6 seeds and also 9 - 11 seeds for the conference tournament have been set after tonight's games:

1. MSU
2. Idaho
3. ISU
4. UM
5. NAU
6. SUU
7. UNC or PSU
8. UNC or PSU
9. Sac
10. EWU
11. Weber

Thanks 01. So if MSU and um both win their first game, is it CAT griz #3?

Correct, MSU would play the UM/NAU winner in the semis.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Had to "watch" the game via stat tracker whilst at a meeting. Man that's tough to do! Especially trying to pay attention to what I'm supposed to be doing. Was a little nervous in that first half when we were down by 5 or so and then close to even halftime. Then it looked like Freije and Squires took turns taking over-all with the other usual cast of characters. 70%+ after halftime from the field. SUU must have actually played pretty well?

@BelgradeBobcat SUU looked like they had scouted us really well. They really clogged up the passing lanes in the first half. Those “automatic” passes when we know where our teammates are seemed to have Thunderbirds in them way too often. Our 3-point game could not bail us out either. Our defense made them work pretty hard for what they were getting. Our height creates problems. But we had a nice mini-run and a great score with two seconds left. You could see that pumped them up a bit.

Give the coaches a lot of credit for halftime adjustments to the offense. What a difference. They really opened things up and went with direct high-low for some easy baskets. Darian and Oliana put on a show with their pull-up jumpers. Darian is in complete control coming down the court on those plays, and looks like she has another gear left if she really needs it. Fallyn was her usual come-to-work self. I was surprised when I looked up at the scoreboard at one time and saw her leading with 17 points. Blaire did a great job tonight! Tori and Martha both looked under-powered tonight. Might have been sniffles.

All the SUU fans that I spoke to were highly complimentary of the team, and were impressed with #2 (Darian) and looked dismayed when I mentioned she was a freshman! Great things to come for The Blur. She looks like the best athlete and player on the court at all times. She gets my vote for conference player of the year.

[Darth Yoda]

I was able to catch most of the 2nd half and wasn't disappointed. Just when SUU showed some life and the announcers started considering what a comeback might look like, the Cats would bury a 3 or otherwise put one in. SUU was 11-2 at home, and this late in the season, that actually means something. On paper this was a very tough game and the Cats really responded. Fantastic win.

The inverse is true tomorrow. For whatever reason NCU plays badly at home with a 4-8 record while managing 8-8 on the road. I'm positive Binford will have everyone ready to play once again. Can't wait to watch.